Bentley reveals first EV but delays all-electric plans

Compact electric SUV leads electric charge, but full electrification put back to 2035

Bentley Luxury Urban SUV is due in 2026 (Bentley)

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Bentley has revealed details of its first all-electric model, a Luxury Urban SUV, set to be built in the UK at the heavily remodelled Bentley plant in Crewe. However, plans for the full electrification of the British brand have been pushed back to 2035.

The line drawing Bentley has released reveals a familiar SUV shape, very similar to the company’s Bentayga, but the new electric car will be much smaller at under five meters in length. It will be an addition to the current Bentley line-up rather than a replacement and has been dubbed a luxury urban SUV. It will be revealed in 2026 and go on sale in 2027.

However, Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser has also announced that the full electrification of the Bentley range won’t now come until 2035, five years later than planned under Bentley’s Beyond 100 strategy. Walliser also admitted that Bentley is creating its first EV partly due to legislative demands rather than customer demand, saying that there was not a lot of demand from today’s Bentley customers and the brand hoped the new car would attract new customers.

“We see legislation for sure is driving electrification. With fleet targets we know what is all around that and what’s driving it, but it’s also competition.

“If it’s today’s Bentley customers, we have to be honest there’s not a lot of demand, let me say carefully in considering something like that. But we see there are new customers out there that definitely want to have a very modern car, also from the interior a different more modern interpretation of a Bentley as well as on the drivetrain side. And this is our target group, what we’re looking for.

Bentley’s Beyond 100 goes to Beyond 100 Plus as full electrification is pushed back to 2035 (Bentley)

“We are sure we can also convince a lot of the existing customers once you have them in the car because the car is really convincing. It’s a little bit like the transformation coming from a W12 and stepping in a V8 plug-in hybrid – then you can feel it and you see the difference. I think we can definitely convince existing customers, but the target is definitely to get new customers.”

Speaking about the new Luxury Urban SUV, Walliser revealed, “We stay under five meters and that gives under normal conditions a little bit better visibility and easiness in driving in urban areas. It’s the first BEV and the concept is super versatile; you can use it for long range, you can use it in the city and urban areas. Being under five meters, this means that if you have on-street parking you can use it.”

There are no technical details on the Luxury Urban SUV, but Walliser did talk about the range expectations of a Bentley electric car, and fast charging. “Under normal driving conditions you want to have a good mix of fast charging and then enough range in real driving – and with the first car, I think we find the right answer.

“No customer will complain about range and even on a long track we will be able to do long distances we will be able to do fast charging and that’s fine. The range is good under normal driving conditions, that means not just with constant low speed but also with higher speed.”

Bentley’s Crewe factory has undergone an extensive transformation to be able to build the new electric car, with training in place to ready the workforce for electrification, a new paint shop having been built and a clear focus on sustainable, low-energy working practices. Many of the traditional, hand-crafted methods and materials will still be used in the new car to keep the traditional Bentley feel, though.

Bentley’s Beyond 100 strategy is now being referred to as Beyond 100 Plus. That means full electrification of the entire Bentley range has now been put back to 2035 from 2030, with more reliance on hybrid models. Four current Bentleys, the new Continental GT and GTC, Flying Spur and Bentayga, are all already available with plug-in hybrid power.